Things that are harming your art business (and what to do instead)
Nobody starts an art business because they want to spend their life in front of a computer, right? We want to have lots of time to create but there are other tasks that we have to do in order for our clients to be able to see the work so that they can buy it. Having said that, it’s really easy to fall into the trap of doing loads of admin in order to feel like you’re being effective (I am guilty of this). So in order to save you time and stress, I’m Heather Moore, owner of The Peacock & The Printmaker. I have been selling my art for 7 years and have put together a list of things NOT TO DO so that you have more time for the art and the essential biz jobs.
Social media:
Follow chains
In the early stage of my foray into social media for my business, I tried using follow chains - you know the Follow Fridays etc. They seemed fun and they brought in new followers but I soon realised that these people weren’t actual customers but other business owners who wanted to grow too. It’s nice to have a big following but it’s not about the numbers really. What you need is a curated audience of people who want to buy what you are offering, not people who are going to scroll right past you. If anything having a massive audience that doesn’t engage is going to harm you in the long run because the algorithm will realise that what you are putting out there is not interesting anyone, therefor it won’t push it out to new users.
Asking your friends and family to follow you
Much like the above, unless your friends and family are your ideal clients (and usually they’re not) then having them as followers is not going to help you. You need to focus on interactions that align with your business goals.
Scatter gun posting
Posting for the sake of it just to tick a box results in content that is uninteresting.
Posting whatever you feel like that day without a strategy is just going to confuse your audience. Take my business for example. If I talk about my coastal work today then offer my freebie aimed at mentoring artists the next day and then cards the day after that, I’m not really talking to anyone consistently. I need to know what my audience like and show them that. I also need to focus on selling one thing at a time so that I can be sure that I have told my audience everything they need to know about that product or service (in snippets) and ensure I am not getting confused as well as my audience because confused people don’t buy.
Using polls for engagement then doing nothing with the info
I love using polls in Instagram. They’re a great way to get your audience to engage without using too much brain power. They can be used on stories and in reels. Other great tools are things like emoji buttons, sliders and question boxes but using these just for engagement is a mistake because you could be getting so much more out of it.
When I set about putting together my mentoring service, I didn’t just make it up and put it out there - I did my research and I did it all through instagram stories and DMs. I used the polls to filter down to the people I wanted to work with (struggling artists) and then asked questions to dig a bit deeper. I made a note of the people who engaged and kept going back to their grid to like their posts and comment (useful and meaningful comments). I also chatted to them in DMs, either as a response to their engagement or as a reaction to their stories. I even sent some of them a short questionnaire to get more detail on the content for my mentoring offer. The possibilities are immense.
Dwelling on the vanity metrics
Vanity metrics are statistics that look great but don’t actually translate to business success - the big one being how many followers you have or how many likes a post gets. These are great but they don’t directly translate into artwork sold. There are lots of people who see your posts but don’t interact - that doesn’t mean they’re not interested it just means they’re not ready yet. Dwelling on the metrics can lead to low mood when they’re small numbers or misplaced confidence when they’re high.
What you need to do is figure out which metrics relate to success in your business and track them without over obsessing.
Emails:
Only sending emails to sell
People have busy lives and most of them spend a significant amount of time answering emails for work.
‘The average professional spends 28% of the work day reading and answering email, according to a McKinsey analysis’ Harvard Business Review, 2019
That means that when they come home, they’re sick of them so they’re only going to open them if it’s worth it. If all you send them is BUY THIS BUY THAT then they won’t hang around long. You need to mix it up with things that entertain them and bring something of value. As artists you might be showing them behind the scenes, telling them abut great exhibitions you’ve seen or walks you’ve been on. These things also give your audience to get to know you - the first stage of the KLT (know-like-trust) journey that precedes any sales.
Naff subject lines
Want your audience to open the emails you spend ages crafting? You need to create intriguing subject lines that pique their interest. Not sure what works? Test it out. AB testing is where you split your audience in half and send them the same email with different subject lines to see which works better. Perhaps you try out using a question or shocking statements. I once sent an email with the subject line ‘It’s not the dead white men’s fault’. It made sense to the content but was weird enough to grab attention. It had one of my highest open rate. It also resulted in a couple of people unsubscribing but I don’t mind them leaving - my ideal clients are staying.
No CTA
A CTA is a Call To Action. If you want your audience to do something then you have to TELL THEM. I thought this was nonsense at first but people won’t do anything if they don’t know you want them to.
Possible CTAs could be:
watch here
hit reply to answer this question
buy now
find out more here
read the blog by clicking here
You need to make it really easy for them!
Your art:
Following trends
I wrote about this in a recent post and I got some interesting reactions - even the interior designers agreed with me and I thought they’d be loving trends.
Trends come and go but I create art that is intended to bring joy for years to come. It’s the family heirloom, that special piece that moves from house to house with you. You don’t get that feeling from something you bought because it was in fashion that month.
Art is something that you connect with on a soulful level. It makes you feel something. That kind of art isn’t made by following trends. (To my mind that’s design anyway)
Art that connects with you does so because the artist has invested something of their soul and their emotions in the work. They have been called to create something and put their passion and love into it. You feel that when you view it yourself.
So please don’t worry if what you are making is on trend. Instead focus on whether it is lighting you up. If it is then that will shine out of you as you speak about it and your clients will feed off that
.
Making all of the stuff
You need to be known for one thing - at least in the beginning. What do you think of when you hear the name Damien Hirst? Probably animals in formaldehyde not his spot paintings. He built a reputation on creating shocking installations and now he can pretty much make whatever he wants and it will sell. When you think of Georgia O’Keefe you probably think of her florals, not her landscapes. You build a following from that niche thing and grow from there.
Don’t worry if you haven’t figured out your niche yet - I can help you with that. Find out more here (see - a CTA!).
Pricing too low
Lower prices don’t necessarily mean more sales. Even if they do, it’ll take a lot more of them to create the income you want and that means working harder.
I’m not against hard work - I work hard on my business - but there’s no point setting yourself up for exhaustion because you’re scared to charge your worth. You’re not meant to be making art for everyone remember.
Imagine this - You charge less so then it looks like the value is lower, it takes more sales for you to earn enough to pay yourself and you get bitter about the whole selling process.
Alternatively you could charge according to all the years you’ve put in developing your skills and ideas, the materials you use and the time it took to create and charge a decent price that allows you to pay yourself a wage and create more gorgeous work that brings joy into the world.
What you do is worth something. You’re not tricking people into buying. They want what you make because it’s amazing. Now stop behaving like you’re running a brick a brack stall and show your audience that you believe in your worth.Sales
By this I mean discounting your art. Think of the person that paid full whack for your gorgeous work scrolling through you emails to find that now you’ve slashed the price and other people get to own your work for a fraction of the cost. I don’t know about you but id be pissed off if that was me. Is that original client coming back? Can they trust that next time you put work out the price is staying the same or will they assume that a sale is coming and wait for that?
You:
Trying to be everything to everyone
This may sound harsh but not everyone is going to like your art.
Do you like all the art that you see? I definitely don’t and of the work I do like i’m only likely to buy a small fraction of it.
Trying to sell to everyone means that you have to construct messaging that speaks to everyone - that’s impossible. All people are not the same so you can’t talk to them in the same way. You need to get really clear on who is going to want what you make.
e.g. My clients love the sea - they going walking at the beach, like a paddle and warm up with a coffee in an independent cafe afterward. Income wise, they are in the bracket of doctors and business leaders. Because of this, I include all of these actives in my video content and emails and I also look for them in places like coastal galleries.
Not sharing what you truly think
When I was a teacher, I had to be very careful about the opinions I shared on social media. As soon as I left that job I felt so much freer to be the complete version of me online.
Now i’m not saying that you should purposefully go out of your way to offend people but there’s nothing wrong with saying what you think. ts another way that your audience get to know, like and trust you. They are probably thinking the same thing as you! Being vanilla doesn’t get anyone excited.
Hiding
I am so irritated by all these faceless instagram channels telling you it’s okay not to show your face. That is extremely unlikely to help you sell any of your art (unless you’re Banksy and are willing to risk breaking the law - I in no way recommend this) because your audience won’t be able to get to know you (remember know like trust). SO show your flipping face. Maybe it’s just every now and then - you can ease in. Early on I put some make up on and took a few selfies with different expressions and used them in stories. Now my face is everywhere and I usually only have my pink lipstick on my face.
Pushing through when you’re in a funk
Exhausted? Take a f***ing break.
I am giving you permission if you think you need it (which you don’t).
So you don’t post on instagram for a couple of days - the world isn’t going to end. Have a rest and come back feeling refreshed. You’ll create better art and content and do a better job of running your business once you’ve rested.
I’d love to know which of these you’ve found surprising or useful. If you are looking for artist mentoring to help you grow your business and create a life that you love then click here.
